


The Present

by Elayna



Series: Miracles [10]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-16
Updated: 2017-01-16
Packaged: 2018-09-17 23:40:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9351728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elayna/pseuds/Elayna
Summary: A direct sequel to Part 5: An Old Friend.  Ford sends his present.





	

Rodney bounced on his toes a little, waiting for everyone to finish prepping for the mission, his first since the birth of the twins. He knew he was grinning and tried to stifle the expression. This was serious business, going off world, meeting aliens and searching for resources, putting themselves in danger with the very first step onto a strange world. Still…the anticipation was fabulous, and Rodney bounced a few more times, pacing on the floor of the gate room. He loved his children but being tied to Atlantis had been driving him stir crazy. Thankfully, Cadman had volunteered for the joy of regular feedings and diaper changes. 

A silver sheen formed in the circle of the gate. "Unscheduled activation," Chuck announced. 

Rodney grimaced. Unscheduled activations were rarely a good sign, though he hoped a team was returning early, their mission successfully completed. 

"Are we getting an IDC?" Elizabeth asked. 

"Yes, Athosian," Chuck responded. "It's listed to a Herron." 

Teyla began walking up the steps from the gate room floor to the control center. "He is one of our traders. He went off-world almost two weeks ago." 

"That seems like a long visit," Elizabeth responded, leaning over the railing to talk to her. 

"He has been gone a long time, I agree, but that is not unknown. He may have had to visit several worlds to gather the resources my people need."

"Alright, lower the iris, but let's be prepared. I don't want any surprises." Elizabeth nodded to the technician, as John, Teyla and Ronon quickly took positions on the gate room floor, ringed loosely around the Stargate. Rodney backed away, standing on the stairs. 

A man stepped through, Herron presumably, dressed in Athosian clothes, home-spun fabric and leather, and carrying a large animal cradled in his arms. The animal appeared generally dog-like, with black and brown fur. The wormhole vanished, no one else coming through, and Rodney relaxed. Maybe this time an unscheduled activation would create no problems, allowing them to get back on schedule. 

"Herron," Teyla said smiling. "It is a pleasure to see you. Was your trip successful?" 

Herron hefted the animal in his arms, adjusting his hold on it as it squirmed, and Rodney realized it was probably a young animal and bizarrely, had a red bow tied around its neck. "I was taken prisoner by Lieutenant Ford and his men." 

"Ford?" John and Elizabeth said at the same time, Elizabeth trotting down the stairs to join them. "He got away," John added, and Rodney could hear the relief in his voice. For John's sake, Rodney wished he could agree, but after drugging himself to the gills with Wraith enzyme in order to make a pointless escape while John managed to save himself…well, no. Rodney wouldn't have been all that upset if Ford had gotten blown up with the Wraith ship. For the Ford that had been, maybe, but not for the Ford that was now. 

"Dial that gate back," John ordered up at the control center, but Herron shook his head. 

"We gated to several planets before reaching that one, and Ford and his men left before I did. You will not be able to follow them." 

"Why did Lieutenant Ford take you prisoner?" Teyla asked. "Did he treat you well?" 

"He said he only wanted to learn what was happening here. That he missed you and wanted to know you were well. Lieutenant Ford and his men did not do anything to me, though the Lieutenant was somewhat…alarming." Rodney snorted. "But then he kept me there to give himself time to find this." Herron held the dog thing out in Rodney's direction. 

Rodney recoiled, belatedly realizing that the red bow was Ford's absurd idea of gift-wrapping. "I don't want it. I don't want any present from Ford."

"It is for your children. Ford said that every child should have a pet." Herron spoke cautiously, as if quoting wisdom he didn't understand. 

"Oh yes, because Ford knows so much about being a good parent. What else did he say?" Rodney asked, because he could guess Ford had been verbose in his whacked-out junkie way. 

"He said that it was good for children to be around animals, that they learned responsibility and developed resistance to disease. He apologized that he could not find a cat, because he knew you were a cat person, but he said that the Colonel was a dog person." Perhaps realizing that Rodney wasn't going to claim the animal, Herron held it out to John.

The Colonel kept his hands resting on his hips. "Do you know anything about where it came from?"

"Ford did not tell me that." 

"Oh no," Rodney said, bolting forward to stand next to John. "You are so not thinking about taking that animal. That thing is not coming anywhere near my children. Nothing that comes from that drugged out punk is coming near my children." 

Elizabeth spoke first, her voice deliberately reassuring. "Rodney, he's just trying to get all the information we can on the animal. We have to do something with it." 

"Dial the gate and throw it on a deserted planet. It's not coming anywhere near my children." He caught Elizabeth looking at John, and snapped, "What are you looking at him for? It's a gift to my children and I'm saying the gift is refused. We don't want it." 

Rodney flinched as John's hand settled on his shoulder, squeezing. "She's looking at me because I'm military commander, which gives me a little input on what comes to Atlantis. And you're completely right, and I'm not going to try to overrule you. I'd like to trust Ford's motivations, but his execution still sucks. Even if we wanted a pet for the kids, look at those paws. That's going to be an enormous dog. It's not an appropriate animal for infants." Rodney relaxed as John blew an exasperated breath. "He plans gifts as well as he plans attacks." 

"I'll take it," Ronon said suddenly. 

"You sure?" John asked. 

Ronon nodded. "Yeah." 

"No, oh no. It doesn’t stay on Atlantis. It needs to go away. Send it into a black hole. Send it to an ice planet. Send it - " 

Rodney's words died as John pulled him aside with one hand on his back, toward the stairs and away from the others. With his voice lowered, he said, "You know that I would die for you and the kids. But don't ask me to kill a defenseless animal." 

John's hand felt warm on the small of his back through the fabric of his shirt, making Rodney very conscious that John was standing close to him and touching him in front of the others. Even at the party, John had restricted himself to light brushes on Rodney's arm. But for Ford's sake… Rodney glanced over at the dog, wanting to rebut that the animal was hardly defenseless, and caught himself looking into expressive brown eyes, eyes that seemed both innocent and intelligent. "If we left it on the mainland…" 

"It's a puppy, Rodney. A big one, but still a puppy. Starvation isn't an easy way to die." 

And then John waited, just waited for Rodney's response, as if he knew Rodney would do the right thing. And curse him, he was right, because Rodney couldn't let him down. Couldn't make him kill a present from Ford, even if neither of them trusted the man. He'd been John's friend and Rodney's team member. Speaking loudly enough that everyone could hear, Rodney snapped, "Fine, Ronon can have Fido and keep it on Atlantis." Rodney turned to give Ronon a hard look, not expecting to intimidate the bigger man, but willing to give it a shot. "But you keep it away from the kids. And you only get to keep it if Carson clears it on not having any hidden dangerous devices. Or infected with a disease. Or a shape shifter - " 

"Yes, Rodney, we understand. We'll make certain that the animal isn't a Trojan horse." Elizabeth moved to take the dog from Herron, and John stepped quickly toward her, halting her with a light touch on her arm. 

"Elizabeth, if you don’t mind, we'll delay the mission a day. Ronon and I will escort Herron and the dog to the infirmary and stay there until the examinations are finished." 

"If you think that's necessary." 

"Yes. I do." 

"I am fine, Colonel. I do not need to be examined."

Teyla smiled, her expression determinedly helpful as she stepped close to Herron. "I will come with you and keep you company. It is a formality only, but a necessary one." 

The agreement of the Athosian leader seemed to reassure Herron as he nodded, and still holding the dog, began to walk out of the gate room, Ronon trailing after them. John stayed momentarily, asking Rodney, "You okay?" 

"I'll be in the lab," Rodney said abruptly. "I have important work to do." 

"I'll come there after the exams are done." John hesitated, seeming to wait for Rodney to say more, then followed the others, leaving Rodney and Elizabeth standing alone on the gate room floor. 

"Lieutenant Ford continues to make an impact," Elizabeth offered.

"Yes," Rodney agreed. "He certainly does." 

He turned away without another word, heading up the stairs. As he said, he had plenty of work to do, important scientific work, that didn't involve risking his life on alien planets. Without conscious thought, he found himself heading toward Cadman's room instead of his lab. She could have her free time again. The twins could hang out with him in the lab, with his minions undoubtedly falling over each other to help take care of them. Everyone loved fussing over small children. 

He might get less work done with their presence, but today... today it felt right to have them close. 

~ the end ~


End file.
